Buttonhole attachment for sewing machines



June 16, 1959 H. N. JOHNSON ETALQ 2,390,668

BUTTONHOLE ATTACHMENT FOR sawma MACHINES Filed Feb. 27, 1958 3 sh t t 1ma/ 5 1|" 0L5! Cf P' 43 4%, Z5 52 66' ,5 Q i; 0 fa ,,\v'-

INVENTOR5 ATTORNEYS June 16, 1959 JOHNSON r 2,890,668

BUTTONHOLE ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed Feb. 27, 1958 3Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYS June 16, 1959 H. N. JOHNSON ET'AL 2,890,668

f BUTTONHOLE ATTACHMENT FOR sswmc MACHINES Filed Feb. 27, 1958 3Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTORS ATTORNEYS BUTTONHOLE ATTACHMENT FOR SEWINGMACHINES Harry N. Ilohnson, New Haven, and Carl G. Baehr, West Haven,Conn, assignors to The Greist Manufacturing Company, New Haven, Conn, acorporation of Connecticut Application February 27, 1958, Serial No.717,891

7 Claims. (Cl. 112-77) This application relates to sewing machineattachments, and more particularly to an attachment for makingbuttonholes in the material of a garment. In devices of this character aframe or supporting body is commonly provided which is attached to thepresser bar of the sewing machine. A forkarm is pivoted on this frame tobe actuated by the needle bar, this forkarm serving as the power memberfor the working parts of the attachment.

As illustrated, the attachment is provided with a feed blade which ismoved longitudinally of the frame in a reciprocating movement to movethe cloth in an oblong path with respect to the needle of the sewingmachine. During this movement the feed blade which controls the movementof the cloth is also given a lateral reciprocating movement to effectthe stitches back and forth along the edge of the buttonhole. At theends of the buttonhole where the longitudinal movement is reversed, thefeed blade is also moved laterally so that stitches will be made alongone edge of the buttonhole and then along the other edge.

The present structure provides mechanism for effecting the abovemovements and provides certain improvements in the mechanism shown inthe Baehr and Johnson Patent No. 2,804,035.

One object of the present invention is to provide a new and improvedbuttonhole attachment for household sewing machines.

A further object of the invention is to provide improved means foradjusting the lateral throw of the feed blade to adjust the width of thestitch made by the attachment.

Still another object of the invention is to provide improved means forsupporting and holding in place the template which controls thelongitudinal or reciprocating movements of the feed blade as will behereinafter explained.

To these and other ends the invention consists in the novel features andcombinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational View of a buttonhole attachment embodyingour improvements;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a partial elevational view showing the forward end portion ofthe attachment from the side opposite that shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on line 55 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view on line 6--6 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 7 is a perspective 'vieW of a supporting bracket employed in theattachment;

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the feed blade;

Fig. 9 is an enlarged sectional view on line 99 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of the device for adjusting the lateralthrow of the feed blade; and

Fig. 11 is a fragmentary sectional view on line 11-11 of Fig. 3.

To illustrate one embodiment of the invention, there is shown in thedrawings a main frame member 10 having upstanding flanges 11 and 12along its side edges. Mounted upon this frame member is a U-shapedbracket having a base portion 13 lying flatly upon the top surface ofthe frame member 10 and upstanding spaced brackets 14 and 15. A cammember 16 is secured to a shaft 17 rotatably mounted in the brackets 14and 15, and to the end of this shaft is secured a ratchet 18. A forkarm19 is pivoted upon the shaft 17 and upon this arm is pivoted a pawl 20urged into contact with the ratchet 18 by the spring 21.

An actuating lever 22 is pivoted at 23 upon the main frame 10 andcarries at its forward end a cam follower 24 which lies in the track ofthe cam 16 so that, when the cam is rotated, the lever 22 isreciprocated. The lever 22 extends rearwardly from its pivot point andjournaled therein is the shaft 25 of a pinion 26. Secured to the shaft25 is a ratchet wheel 27, and pivoted upon this shaft and disposed belowthe ratchet wheel is a lever 28 to which is pivoted a pawl 29 urged intoengagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel by a spring 30. The lever28 may be manually operated to rotate the ratchet wheel and, therefore,the pinion 26 as the ratchet wheel is secured to the shaft 25.

The shaft 25 has an upper bearing in a bracket 31 secured upon the upperface of the lever 22 and in spaced relation thereto so that the ratchetwheel lies between the bracket and the upper surface of the lever.

A feed blade 33, shown particularly in Fig. 8, pivotally carries afeeding foot 34 at its forward end. The for- Ward end of this feed bladelies below the frame member 10 and is provided with an elongated slot 35which registers with slots 36 and 37 in the frame 10 and bracket base 13respectively. A pivot pin 38 (Fig. 4) extends through these registeringslots and pivotally connects the feed blade 33 to the base 10. This pinmay be adjusted as will be hereinafter explained to adjust the lateralthrow or bite of the feed blade.

Adjacent its intermediate portion the feed blade is stepped upwardly, asshown at 39 (Fig. 8), so as to rise above the frame member 10 and isprovided with a rear portion 40 lying upon the frame. A cage or housing41 is carried at the rear portion of the feed blade, the upper part ofwhich is spaced from the blade and is provided with an opening 42 in itsforward end through which the lever 22 extends rearwardly. This housingis provided with an opening 43 in its upper face within which may bedropped a template 44 (Fig. 1) which is provided with internal rackteeth 45 engaged by the pinion 26. As will be understood the shape ofthe rack 45 of the template determines the shape and size of thebuttonhole.

The template 44 is provided with a lip or flange 47 adjacent its rearend and with flanges 48, 49 and 50 adjacent its front end which overliethe edges of the opening 43 so that the template is supported upon thehousing 41 in inverted position as illustrated. A bowed spring 51 ismounted upon the bracket 31 and engages the lower surface of the pinion25 to hold the latter against play.

In order to conveniently and releasably hold the template in place abifurcated or U-shaped spring member 52 is slidably mounted on the uppersurface of the housing 41 by means of slots 53 and pins 54. At its rearend this member is provided with a flange 56 by which it may bemanipulated. It is also provided with spring holding clips 55, oneadjacent each of the forked ends and one adjacent the bight portion. Thelatter is adapted 3 to engage over the rear portion of the template, asshown in Figs. 2 and 4, and the members 55 at the forward ends of thespring member are adapted to engage over the lugs or flanges'48 and. 50respectively so as to clamp the template in place when this springmember is moved forwardly, as shown in Fig. 2. When the spring member ismoved rearwardly, the template is released and may be removed to bereplaced by another.

As shown more especially in Fig. 9, a spring latch member 57 is securedby the rivet 58 to the lower surface of the housing 41, this memberprojecting rearwardly through an opening 59 in the housing and is turnedupwardly at its rear end to extend behind the lower end of the member56, as shown at 60, and releasably hold the locking member 52 inposition. It will be understood that the engaging surfaces of themembers 56 and 60 are rounded so that when the locking slide 52 ispulled rearwardly, the spring latch member 57 will be cammed downwardlyto a releasing position. Likewise, when the member 52 is pushedforwardly, the latch member will automatically spring upwardly tolatching position, as shown in full lines in Fig. 9.

A bracket 62 (Fig. 7) is secured to the frame 10 adjacent the rear endthereof, the body of this bracket being disposed within the housing 41.The bracket is'provided with an arcuate slot 63 within which rides a pin64 secured to the actuating lever 22 so that this lever will be properlyheld in place and guided in its movements about the pivot 23. Thisbracket is provided with hearing surfaces 65 and 66 upon which ridelaterally extending portions 67 and 68 (Fig. 6) at the rear end of thelever 22.

A pawl 70 is pivoted at 71 upon the bracket 62 and held in engagementwith the ratchet wheel 27 by a spring 72. When the lever 22 isreciprocated and the ratchet wheel which is mounted thereon is movedlaterally of the frame, this pawl engages the teeth of the ratchet wheeland effects step-by-step rotation of the latter, thereby rotating thepinion 26 and effecting movement of the feed blade as the teeth of theplaten follow the pinion.

In order to adjust the bite or throw of the feed blade in a lateraldirection about the pivot pin 38, this pin is mounted upon a slide 73(Figs. and This slide is disposed above the plate 13 and is providedwith a longitudinal opening or slot 74 in which is received the pivotpin 23 so that the slide will be guided in its movements.

Adjustment of this slide in a direction longitudinally of the attachmentadjusts the pin 38 in the slots 36 and 37 of the plates 10 and 13 andalso in the slot 35 of the feed blade so as to vary the pivot point ofthe latter and thereby adjust the lateral throw of the feeding foot 34and the bite of the stitch.

As shown more especially in Figs. 10 and 11, the slide 73 is providedwith an upstanding flange 75 adjacent one edge thereof and this flangeis turned outwardly in L- shaped form as shown at 76. Slidably mountedon the out-turned end 76 of the flange 75 is a manually engageableplunger 77. This member is provided with slots 78 engaging pins 79 inthe member 76 so as to limit relative sliding movement between theseparts. A spring 80 acts between a spring support 81 secured to theflange 75 and vertical extensions 82 and 83 to normally urge the plungermember 77 outwardly. This member is also provided with a detent 84adapted to engage serrations 85 (Fig. 3) in the flange 11 of the base10. A leaf spring 86 is secured to the flange 75 and engages the member14 to guide the slide in its movement.

It will be apparent that when the member77 is pushed inwardly toward thespring stop 81, the detent 84 will be disengaged from the serrations 85and thus permit the slide 73 to be moved longitudinally of theattachment so as to vary the position of the pivot 38.

While we have shown and described one embodiment of our invention, itwill be understood that it is not to be limited to all of thedetailsshown, but is capable of modification and variation within the spirit ofthe invention and within the scope of the claims.

What we claim is:

1. A buttonhole attachment for sewing machines comprising a frame, afeed blade slidably mounted on the frame, means for effecting slidingmovement of said feed blade including a toothed rack member carried bythe feed blade in a position spaced above the same, a supporting membercarried by the feed blade having an opening within which the rack memberis received, said rack member having flange portions overlying the edgesof said opening to be supported bythe supporting member, and a forkedlocking slide carried on the upper surface of said supporting memberadjacent said opening for bodily slidable movement, and said slidehaving means adapted to be moved to position to engage over the rackmember to hold the latter in place.

2. A buttonhole attachment as in claim 1 wherein the rack member isprovided with laterally extending lugs above the supporting member, andthe locking slide is provided with spring clips engaging over said lugs.

3. A buttonhole attachment as in claim 1 wherein a spring latch memberis carried by the supporting member to engage said locking slide andreleasably hold the latter in a position in which it engages the rackmember.

4. A buttonhole attachment as in claim 1 wherein a spring latch memberis carried by the supporting member to engage said locking slide andreleasably hold the latter in a position in which it engages the rackmember, the engagement between said locking slide and latch memher beingsuch that the slide is released when a force is applied thereto in adirection to move it to disengaging pos1t1on.

5. A buttonhole attachment for sewing machines comprising a frame, afeed blade mounted on the frame for pivotal and slidable movements,means for effecting such movements including an actuating lever pivotedon the frame, an adjusting slide having an elongated slot therein inwhich the pivot of the actuating lever is received to guide the slide inits movements, a pivot pin carried by said slide upon which the feedblade is pivoted, and said feed blade being provided with an elongatedslot in which said pivot pin is slidably received whereby, when theslide is adjusted, the pivot point about which the feed blade moves maybe varied.

6. A buttonhole attachment as in claim 5 wherein a spring-pressedplunger is movably carried by the slide and is provided with means toengage the frame and releasably hold the slide in adjusted positions.

7. A buttonhole attachment as in claim 5 wherein a resilient member issecured at one end to the slide, and has a free end urged by theresilience thereof against the frame to guide the slide in its movement.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,619,925 Sharenow et a1 Dec. 2, 1952 2,645,191 Connors July 14, 19532,649,063 Russell Aug. 18, 1953 2,660,138 Russell Nov. 24, 19532,669,202 Enos Feb. 16, 1954 2,700,948 Burgess et al Feb. 1, 1955

